Popular Culture Review Vol. 12, No. 2, August 2001 | Page 95

American Bumper Stickers

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and as cultural uncertainty has arisen so have the needs for feelings of authenticity
and continuity (Gergen, 1991). In response, a new individualistic culture has become
readily available: one that is product of the fiercely independent and entrepreneurial
mentality that has accompanied the pursuit of economic success. Pushed to strive
for economic autonomy, many individuals have found aspects of this new culture
to be a source of meanings that readily substituted the sense of comfort (and
obligation) that the community previously offered. According to this credo of radical
individualism, interpersonal ties are nothing but shackles, remainders of a weak
condition the independent individual must rise above. In this reformed language
of hyper-individualism, love and interpersonal relationships have become the
epitome of dependence, while material accumulation has turned to symbolize
success and independence (Bellah et al., 1985). These narcissistic changes are of
course a tendency, a trend that has emerged and taken a strong hold on the American
Zeitgeist, but certainly only one cultural movement amongst many others.
The construct of narcissism was not too long ago brought to the attention of
the general public through the works of historian and social critic Christopher
Lasch (1978). What is new about this old concept rooted in Greek mythology is its
contemporary manifestation in the sense of meaninglessness and philosophical
doubt that has infused an increasingly greater part of culture and society throughout
the past quarter of a century.
As more observers became concerned about the emerging narcissistic spirit a
new therapeutic culture of the self surfaced. The therapeutic self increasingly
occupied a larger space in popular discourse. Terms such as self-esteem, self-image,
self-concept, to name a few, became common in everyday conversations as books
on self-help occupied more and more shelf space in bookstores across the country.
The new self was to be sanitized, educated, and explored in search of awareness,
becoming an ideal, a nirvana, a mystical space where happiness and meaning would
be found (Lasch, 1978). This was a self capable o f accepting weakness,
understanding feelings, respecting others, giving love, and expressing its creative
essence through care and dedication. A self that was capable of honesty, sympathy,
humility, intimacy, and spirituality constituted the perfect therapy to the narcissistic
tendencies that had begun to take hold among the masses. However, throughout
the 1980’s and 90’s the therapeutic self campaign could not avoid the collision
with the rampant hedonism of the times and later with the explosion of mediainfluenced commercialized sexuality and unrestrained consumerism. This is an
example of the cultural confusion Bellah, and Hewitt (1989) spoke of, traditional
community values coexisting along narcissistic tendencies and the new culture of
the self. Caught in a tug of war between the temptations of everyday life and the
ascetic recommendations of the therapeutic self, many narcissism-prone Americans
turned a blind eye to the specter of their own limitations and rebelled to the anti-